Full title: Vaticinium Severi, et Leonis Imperatorum, in quo videtur finis Turcarum in præsenti eorum Imperatore, Una cum alijs nonnullis in hac re Vaticanijs. Profetia di Severo, et Leone Imperatori, nella quale si vede il fine de Turchi nel presente loro Imperatore, Con alcune altre Profetie in questo proposito

8vo. pp. 106, [2]. Signatures: A-F⁸, G⁶. 16 full-page engravings. Printer’s device (engraving of a dolphin around an anchor) on title page.

First appearance in printed form of the “Oracles of Leo the Wise,” a prophetic forgery which circulated widely throughout the Middle Ages and early modern period. The prophecies were traditionally attributed to Leo VI (866-911/12), Emperor of Byzantium from 866 to his death and, at least in the present work, also to Antonius Severus (188-217), sole Emperor of Rome from his murder of his brother in December 211 to his death – the book does not indicate which Severus is intended, but the preface notes that he reigned from 212).

For centuries, the Oracles of Leo constituted a rich and imaginative source for the promotion of politically advantageous “vaticinium ex eventu,” a prophecy from the event”—a prophetic text written by one who already possesses the information of what has transpired so as to make their oracular pronouncements unimpeachable and preternaturally “precise.” While the earliest version of the text foretold the fates of various Byzantine emperors and events that would befall Constantinople itself, the Oracles were later applied to later events, such as the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.

This collection of poems, each of which here paired with an ambiguous emblematic illustration, was published in 1596 against the backdrop of the “Long Turkish War” against the Habsburg empire’s Hungarian principalities (1593-96). Later events, such as the siege and Battle of Vienna (1683) and the death of Charles II (1700), inspired other scribal versions of the Leonine Oracles.

The illustrations in the current volume, rooted in animal and anthropomorphic symbols, are closely keyed with guide letters to the relevant epigrams and allied expositions detailing the verses’ pithy, if enigmatic, meanings. The second prophecy of Repentance, for example, illustrated with two crows and a serpent presents an allegory wherein the second son (i.e., the serpent) will destroy the bear (i.e., the king or emperor), only to be savaged itself by crows owing to descent from a degenerate eastern race, thus bringing only despair and tears.

Click here to view the Johns Hopkins University catalog record.

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